Zab Judah

Paulie Malignaggi discusses his relationship with Al Haymon and the possibility of fighting the winner of this Saturday’s WBA welterweight title bout between Adrien Broner and Marcos Maidana, as well as 140-pound champ Danny Garcia.

A disappointed Zab Judah spoke to the media after losing a one-sided decision to Paul Malignaggi. “He had a better game plan,” said the former 140- and 147-pound champ. “I couldn’t close the distance. His timing and movement was good.” Judah, 36, says he will continue his long career and stay at welterweight.

Paul Malignaggi turned his “Brawl for Brooklyn” against Zab Judah into a pure boxing match for borough bragging rights by out-jabbing and outworking his fellow former champ en route to a one-sided and somewhat uneventful decision.

Paul Malignaggi boxed one of the most disciplined and effective matches of his career, out-jabbing, outworking and out-thinking fellow veteran Zab Judah over 12 rounds to earn a lopsided unanimous decision by scores of 116-111 and 117-110 (twice) on Saturday in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Zab Judah says he means business when he faces Paulie Malignaggi on Saturday: “At the end of the day, this is like the old Roman days. The only thing that I can’t do is behead him, I can only knock him out.”

Paulie Malignaggi said he never has lost to a southpaw, which Zab Judah is, and that he is unconcerned about the judges despite his rancor over scoring in his past two bouts at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

Fans share their thoughts on some of this weekend’s and next weekend’s major bouts, ask Dougie for his picks on Saturday’s Showtime- and HBO-televised fights, and give their two cents on Adonis Stevenson, Sergey Kovalev and much more in this week’s Friday mailbag. Enjoy!

Former junior welterweight titleholder Amir Khan, who is in New York to work Showtime’s Zab Judah-Paul Malignaggi broadcast on Saturday, says a fight between him and Floyd Mayweather makes more sense than any other match available to boxing’s No. 1 attraction.

Adrien Broner talks about his early introduction to boxing in Showtimes All Access: Broner vs. Maidana, which premiere’s on Saturday: “My family, they’ve been putting the boxing gloves on me since I was about 4 years old.”

Paulie Malignaggi on Saturday’s bout with Zab Judah: “Back in the Roman times, you never knew who you fought, but you fought to the death. Sometimes, you probably did have to fight your friend and it was either him or you.”

Zab Judah has been in boxing so long – 18 years as a pro – that he inspired Paul Malignaggi when his fellow Brooklynite was an amateur. Judah says he once sparred with a young Malignaggi, who says it never happened, but the two vets will definitely trade leather when they fight as pros on Saturday.